Those who had entered RSE and DP contests knows how different these two can be. Strategies that worked flawlessly in the 3rd Generation Contests can fail miserably in the (so-called) new and improved 4th Generation Contests.

For those who have no experience in Contests at all, here are some basic knowledge:

There are four ranks: Normal, Great, Ultra, Master
Winning a rank will enable you to participate the next rank.
There are five Contest types: Cool, Beauty, Cute, Smart and Tough
All attacks belongs to either one of the five contest types.
Type and effect of attack in a contest can be seen in the summary page of a Pokémon.
Attacks with the same type as the Contest they are used in will raise the voltage of the judge.
Five is the maximum voltage points a judge can have.
Once a Pokémon hits the max voltage of a judge, he/she/it will get extra appeal points.
Attacks that do not share the same type of the Contest they are used in may lower the judge's voltage.

Super Contests, unlike the previous Pokémon Contests known in RSE, has three categories instead of two, namely Visual, Dance and Acting.

VISUAL

There are five conditions of a Pokémon, namely Coolness, Beauty, Cuteness, Smartness and Toughness. The condition of a Pokémon plays a big role in the visual category. In fact, if one of the conditions are maxed, the Pokémon can simply go naked into the respective Normal and Super Ranks and get top marks for Visual.

There are two ways to raise the condition of a Pokémon: Poffin and PokéBlocks. PokéBlocks only exist in RSE, but their effects are brought over to DP. The higher the level, the more it raises the condition of a Pokémon. The lower the feel, the more the Pokémon can eat until it cannot eat any more. What if you are unable to make quality Pokémon food? How should this obstacle be removed? To be frank, I am not a Poffin expert, nor a PokéBlock master. I think my Pokémon ate my Poffins because they a.) are almost starved to death b.) did it out of love c.) are vaccuum cleaners and dustbins that can eat anything. I cannot make delicious PokéBlocks, but the Blend Master of Emerald can. Using the Blend Master's PokéBlock is the only way to get conditions fit for Contests if you are somewhere on/below my level in/too lazy to practice making Pokémon food. However, it requires a copy of Emerald, a working ingame clock, cheap berries, some patience and a PokéBlock case. If you lack one of these and had no way of obtaining it, you may well put your contest Pokémon in the GTS to be fed by some Poffin Master somewhere. If you chose to go the Blend Master way:

Wait for the Blend Master to arrive. The TV should announce his arrival.
In the mean time, plant Cheri, Chesto, Pecha, Rawst or Aspear depending on the condition you want to raise. Harvest berries whenever appropriate. Get some from the Berry Master's wife.
You can also breed the perfect nature/Egg move while waiting.
When the Blend Master arrives, offer to blend berries with him.
Throw in either Cheri, Chesto, Pecha, Rawst or Aspear. NOTHING else. Wait for the Blend Master to blend the berries for you. Do NOT touch the A or L button in the blending process.
Collect your Gold PokéBlocks. Feed the right Pokémon with them. You can try to get a Milotic too.
Migrate Pokémon to DP when you are satisfied with its condition.

Finally, when migrated, show the Pokémon to the Scarf guy in Pastoria to get a Scarf. This Scarf will help you in the contests, and it should be the only hold item for your Pokémon in the contest.

There's something new in DP contests. Themes and accessories. A theme is randomly chosen every time a Contest starts. The themes are The Natural, The Intangible, The Relaxed, The Gaudy, The Colourful, The Solid, The Flexible, The Sharp, The Created, The Bright, The Shapely and The Festive. Accessories have to be used according to the situation. Normal Rank permits up to 5 Accessories, Super Rank allows up to 10 Accessories, Ultra Rank gives you the freedom to use 15 Accessories at most, Master Rank gives you the liberty to dress a Pokémon up with no more than 20 Accessories. Depending on the theme, certain accessories score you points, some do not give points, others score too, but score less. However, you are always given 60 seconds for dressing a Pokémon up in a contest, no more, no less, no matter what. You can collect certain accessories from Amity Square. Different Pokémon picks up different accessories. The Massage Lady in Veilstone gives you an Accessory when she massages one of your Pokémon. Although I do not recommend the scam house in Floaroma Town, I am not going to stop you from purchasing Accessories there with your hard earned berries when free ones will do.

This is a(n incomplete) list of themes and their respective favourable Accessories. Anything not listed will not score you points for that theme. Directly after the Theme itself I shall summarize what should be used.

1) Using the Touch Screen
2. Using the Control Pad
3- Using Y, X, B, and A

I utilise the second and third way because it allows me to use both hands. Tapping Up or X is the same as tapping the Red button on the Touch Screen. Pressing Left or A is like touching the Yellow button. Pushing Down or B has the same effect as tapping the Blue button. The effects of using Y, Right and the Green button is similar.

Dancers have to be the lead dancer for two turns, executing three (Normal and Super) or four (Ultra and Master) steps each per round. You are the last lead dancer. Meanwhile, you have to try to follow the lead dancer's steps perfectly.

Your Pokémon is the one indicated with a red heart just above it. The dance gauge is divided into two equal parts. Each part is divided into 14 sections. Direct your attention to the pink (second) half of the gauge. Coloured rings appear after a dance step is executed. Follow the colour of the rings by tapping their respective buttons. A Jigglypuff bounces from left to right, colouring the top part of the gauge with green. RIGHT BEFORE the Jigglypuff reaches the targeted line, push the correct button FAST and HARD. Your result will be indicated on the gauge with an oval of a deeper shade than those of the other dancers'. This will need practice, as timing is important.

If you are the lead dancer, I am sorry to say I do not have any winning tips for this. To be honest, when it's my turn to be the lead dancer, I tap all four directions as if my life depended on how many times I tap all the buttons. If you believe the rumour that offbeat steps will screw the backup dancers, I advise you to turn off the sound. As you cannot hear any rhythm, you have a lower chance of being in tune with the music.

After everyone had danced, the screen will darken, and so will three Pokémon. The Pokémon unaffected by this darkening is the best dancer, or in other words, the contestant with the highest score for the Dancing category. It should be your Pokémon. This isn't too much to ask for. The Dancing category is the least luck-based category. Try not to get a "miss", if you cannot get "excellent" for every step. Practice until you can ensure a no-miss dance.

If you cannot see certain colours because of colour-blindness, I can't help you much here, sorry. I can only advise you to watch the lead dancers carefully and remember which directions they step.

Now you get to the last and the most difficult category. In my eyes, the appeal category is, by far, the hardest as it relies on luck more than any other category. It also resembles battling. Like battling, Acting requires luck, skill, prediction and definitely a suitable moveset. The latter be dealt with swiftly, as the first one cannot be controlled, and the others scream "practice!" My way of making a winning contest moveset is follow this template:

0 Appeal Points Attack that doubles the score in the next turn
2 Appeal Points Attack that +2 when performed first

Optionals, but gets good scoring:
3 Appeal Points Attack
Appeal that scores better when performed late.

It works this way:

Use "double score next turn" attack.
Use "+2 if performed first" attack.
Repeat.

Adjust according to situation

Unlike RSE contests, the worst performer will go first. The "double score next turn" attack which gives zero appeal points by itself automatically commands you to perform first next turn unless someone unfortunately used a "perform first next turn" attack. It also royally screws up any Pokémon that uses a move that "+3 if it has the lowest appeal points".

If the type of attack matches the type of contest, eg Surf in Beauty, the voltage of the judge you performed it to will increase by one after the effect of the attack kicks in, unless someone used a "no rising voltage" move, which by then the voltage of all judges will not rise. If a judge's voltage hits max, ie 5, the Pokémon who increased the voltage to max will get extra points depending on the judge. Keira's and Jordan's max voltage will give a +5 each, Dexter's will give a whopping +8.

If the type of attack does not match the contest's type, eg Ember in Tough, Fly in Beauty, the voltage of the judge it is performed to will either not change or decrease. A Smart or Cute move will lower voltage in Cool contests. A Smart or Tough move will lower the voltage in Beauty contests. A Tough or Cool move will lower voltage in Cute contests. A move if the type Cool or Beauty will lower voltage in Smart contests. A move of the type Cute or Beauty will lower voltage in Tough contests.

Look at the result score for the round. A red heart is worth 1 point. A pink heart is worth 2 points. A yellow heart is worth 3 points. A blue heart is worth 4 points. I have yet to get a heart that is worth 5 points, but according to prediction, it should be a green heart following the colours of the contest types.

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